Rotary drier



A.o. HUBXTHAL.

ROTARY DRIER.

APPLICATION FILED 050.1. 1919.

Patented May 4, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

A. 0. HURXTHAL.

ROTARY DRIER.

PPLICAILON FILED DEC. i, 1919.

Patented May 4, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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UNTTED sTATEs PATENT oEEroE.

ALPI-IEUS O. HURXTHAL, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIG-NOR T0 THE PHILADELPHIA TEXTILE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENN- SYLVANIA, A CORPORATION 0F PENNSYLVANIA.

ROTARY DRIER.

Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented May 4, 1920.

To vall whom. t may concern Be it known that I, ALPHEUS lO. HURX- THAI., a citizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Rotary Driers, of which the following is a specilication.

My invention relates to certain improvements in driers in'which hot air is circulated through the material in'a drying chamber. The present invention relates particularly to drying granular materials.

One object of my invention is to provide an apparatus which will lift the \material to a given height and will -allow it to fall through space while a current of heated air is passing.

A furtherl object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for continuouslydrying granular material.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is ya longitudinal sectional view illustrating my improved drier;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view on the line 2 2, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view illustrating a modilication of the invention;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line i-#4, Fig. 3, and f Fig. 5 is a detached perspective view of one of the blades.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is a casing having a drying'chamber 2 and a heating chamber 3. 4 is a horizontal partition separating the two chambers. In the partition, in the 'present instance, are two openings in which are fans 5 mounted on vertical shafts 6 adapted to suitable bearings on the frame and driven in any suitable manner. In the heating chamber is a series of coils of piping 7 in the present instance, connected to a steamr supply, but it will be understood that any suitable lmeans may be provided for heating the air in circulation. Mounted in the drying chamber 2 is a cylinder 8 extending substantially the full length of the drying chamber and consisting of a series of annular rings J9,-9a and longitudinally arranged blades 10 spaced a given distance apart, as shown, and having curved portions 11, which retain the granular material. Each blade has a flange 12', which is attached to the rings and also acts to prevent the escape of material at the rear end ofy the blade. The blades are so shaped and so arranged that the material will be carried up and discharged near the upper portion of the cylinder and will drop through space onto the curved portion of one of the lower blades, as shown in Fig. 2. The cylinder, in the present instance, is mounted on wheels 13 adapted to the grooves in the rings 9a df' the cylinder. Each wheel is mounted on a .longitudinal shaft 14. The twoshafts14 are driven in unison and each shaft has a sprocket wheel 15 and a chain 16, shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, passes around both wheels. One of the shafts 14 is geared to a driving shaft 17 by wrm gearing. By this mechanism, the cylinder is slowly rotated in the direction of the arrow w, Fig. 2. 18 is a vertical partition, which extends from the partition 4 down to a point near the upper portion of the cylinder and is preferably curved, as shown in Fig. 2. In the lower portion of the drying chamber .is a curved partition 19, which forms an air baffle and a collector of material escaping from the cylinder. As the fans 5v rotate, the circulation of air, is, as indicated by the small arrows, Fig. 2, down through the drying chamber andin between the blades of the cylinder, through thek cylinder and out through the space between the opposite blades and up through the heating chamber, returning through the fan so that there is a constant circulation of air through the cylinder transversely to the direction of flow of material. Consequently, as the material is carried up and allowed to fallit will fall through the heated air in circulation.

At one end of the casing is a feed hopper 20, which feeds the material through an l opening head 8a of the cylinderS, and at the opposite end is a discharge spoutv 2l through which the material is discharged from the cylinder. The cylinder is preferably arranged on a slight inclinl from the feed end to the discharge end, as shown, so that the material is elevated by the blades and falls from the upper blades as it is fed toward the discharge end. y

In some instances, Vthe cylinder may be' vother heating means.

periphery of the cylinder 8, which acts as a scraper to feed the material that collects on the curved portion 19 toward the discharge spout 21.

While I prefer to use a fan, or other circulating means, for circulating heated air transversely through the cylinder, in some instances, as shown in Fig. 4, the blades of the cylinder may be used to keep the air in circulation. In this case, the blades 10a will be shaped so as to cause them to draw the air into the cylinder from the heating space 3, in which there vare coils of pipe, or

With this arrangement, the air passes from one end of the cylindeiI through a flue 22, which returns the air to the heating chamber 3, so that there is a complete circulation of air.

It will be understood that the arrangement of the' means for circulating the air maybe modified Without departing from the essential features of the invention, but it is desirable that the air should pass through the spaces between the blades.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the operation is as follows:

The material to be dried may be any granular material which will flow on being discharged from the blades' of the drying cylinder. This material is fed. into the hopper 20 at one end of the machine and flows onto the curved portions of the bladefs. These blades elevate the material to a certain height, and when the blades assume a given angle the material will flow from each one, falling through space to one of the blades at the lower portion of the cylinder, being again carried up. This is repeated, while the material is fed toward the'discharge end of the cylinder. When the material lreaches the discharge end ofthe cylinder it is dry. The speed of rotation of the cylinder, as well as its length and inclination, will depend upon the material t be dried.

While I have shown the blades curved in cross section, the shape of the blades may be modified without departing from the main features of the invention.

I claim: Y

1. The combination in a drier, of a drying chamber; a rotating cylinder therein consisting of a series of longitudinal .blades spaced apart; and means connecting the blades so that air can be circulated transversely through the spaces between the blades and dry the material falling from the upper'blades as the cylinder is rotated.

2. The combination in a drier, of a rotating cylinder having a series of blades forming buckets, the spaces between the blades being open; means for rotating the cylinder; and means for heating the air circulating transversely through the cylinder between the blades.

3. The combination in a drier, of a casing; a cylinder mounted Within'the casing and having a series of longitudinal blades spaced apart and shaped to form buckets; means for rotating the cylinder; and means for heating the air circulating in the drying chamber, the air passing through the 'i space between the blades.

4. The combination of a drying apparatus having a heating chamber and a drying chamber; heating means in the heating chamber; a cylinder rotatably mounted in the drying chamber, said cylinder having a series of bucket-shaped blades. the space between the blades being entirelyopen; partitions in the drying chamber; and a circulatingfan for circulating air through the heating chamber and the drying chamber and through the spaces between the blades of the cylinder.

5. The combination in a drier, of a cylinder; means for rotating the cylinder, the cylinder having aA series of blades, the blades being shaped to retain material at one end and having a flange at the rear end; rings to which the blades are secured, the spaces between the blades beingopen to allow for the circulation of air.

6. The combination in a drier, of a rotating cylinder having a series of blades spaced apart, theV spaces between the blades being open; blades coiled around the periphery oi.' the cylinder; and a partition,

under the cylinder, arranged to collect material escaping from the cylinder, the peripheral blade feeding the material over the partition'to the discharge point.

ALPHEUs o. HUR'XTHAL. 

